Ortiz charged with attempted murder and other serious crimes for shooting at Rihanna’s home
Ortiz claims Rihanna ‘stole’ from her and is a ‘witch’ with a ‘devil’s face’
Rihanna and her family were inside the home during the shooting, narrowly avoiding injury
A Florida woman is facing serious charges after prosecutors say she opened fire outside of Rihanna’s home earlier this week.
Ivanna Ortiz, 35, from Orlando, was charged Tuesday with one count of attempted murder, nine counts of assault with a firearm, two counts of shooting into an inhabited dwelling and one count of shooting at a motor vehicle, per The Los Angeles Times.
Ortiz appeared briefly in court in downtown Los Angeles in the late afternoon of March 10, wearing a blue jumpsuit with her hair styled in two blonde braids. She did not enter a plea during the hearing; Her arraignment is set for March 26.
Authorities say Ortiz is being held on $1.8 million bail. A judge also ordered her to stay away from Rihanna and the singer’s longtime partner, A$AP Rocky.
“I want everyone to understand, in this county, that you should absolutely feel safe in your residence and in your neighborhood and in your community. That safety is something that we will work incredibly hard to protect,” Los Angeles County Dist. Atty. Nathan Hochman said outside the courthouse, per The Times. “When an individual comes into our community and decides to shoot it up, that individual will be arrested and held fully accountable for her actions.”
According to Los Angeles police, Ortiz allegedly fired several shots from a parked car outside Rihanna’s home in the Beverly Crest neighborhood early Sunday afternoon.
No one was hurt, but investigators say bullets struck the singer’s home, an Airstream trailer parked on the property and a neighboring house. A law enforcement official with direct knowledge of the case shared the details on the condition of anonymity because they weren’t authorized to speak publicly.
Hochman said Rihanna was home at the time along with Rocky and their three children. Rihanna’s mother, two staff members and two people who live in the neighboring house that was hit were also listed as victims in the criminal complaint.
Hochman added that Rihanna and Rocky were inside the Airstream when the gunfire happened. A law enforcement official told the outlet on Tuesday that the two artists “easily could have been hit.”
If Ortiz is convicted as charged, she could face life in state prison.
As BOSSIP previously reported, multiple alarming videos on Ortiz’s social media appear to offer a bizarre motive for the attack. In a series of videos, she claims the Fenty founder was “stealing” from her, was “jealous” of her and was a “witch” with a “devil’s face.”
In one Youtube upload, she says: “Got Rihanna over there all jealous…because how am I…how am I…because her face is the devil. Rihanna’s face is the devil.”
She continued in another video: “Even though the devil and Rihanna are really loud, God and Jesus Christ are doing something…and myself. Because the devil, he doesn’t want it to be me, he doesn’t want me to be a Christian woman of God, because that’s what it is, I’m indifferent to Rihanna, I’m indifferent to a lot of your girls devil.”
“I don’t like her and she’s always trying to steal from me,” she continued. “And she has not ever put out any music to reach people. She only put out her little music so she could do witchcraft…And so that she can steal from people. So everybody please stop…don’t listen to her, don’t follow her…because she’s stealing from you.”
